Salvation at Badrinath

The journey to any pilgrimage center is always difficult and some of the most beautiful places in the Himalayas pass through these very locations. Vehicles stranded bumper to bumper moved sinuously along the highway. The black granite mountains rose abruptly, dwarfing me by its sheer immensity. I was in Joshimat, traversing through a land of terrifyingly deep chasms and towering ridges. A narrow road, just broad enough to accommodate two vehicles, wound precariously upwards towards Badrinath.

As with all pilgrimage centers, Badrinath was also humming with people. It was the third day of the opening of the Badrinath temple. Though not particularly inclined to theism, I decided to visit the temple anyway. Despite the inclement weather the queue for the temple was at least a quarter of a kilometer long. Our piety notwithstanding, we find our selves falling short when it comes to observing queue etiquette  As I neared the door of the temple, the queue was in imminent danger of breaking. There was pushing, pulling and jumping - just about everything that one would experience while standing in an unruly queue.

All these activities increased in direct proportion to the proximity of the temple door. By the time I managed to reach the temple gateway, the right was with the might! Katha Upanishad, that vedic book with profound wisdom has astutely observed, “to cross over razor’s edge is difficult, so is the path to salvation.” I had no option but to exercise my might too if I had to have any chance of getting my cut of salvation!

Inside the temple, there was no let up in the pilgrims desire to be as close to the Murti as was permissible. They came with eagerness and hope, surrendering themselves completely to the Gods before them, oblivious to the shoving humanity, the noise or the heavy incense filled atmosphere. It was wrenching to see the imploring look on their faces. Will the Gods oblige them? Will He bestow his infinite benignity on them? The obeisance had to be brief. The impatient humanity behind did not allow you a longer communion with the Gods. Only when I was pushed out of the temple did I realise that I had forgotten to ask anything from my Maker. Well, God is everywhere, I consoled myself.

The next day held the exciting prospect of a four hour trek to the Vasudhara falls. No throngs of people accompanied me there. The libation done, the crowds had vanished. I walked alone at a comfortable pace along the narrow path that cut through the vast expanse of the valley towards the cascade.

A lonely trek to Vasudhara Falls- Badrinath.

The people in the endless caravan of vehicles winding its way to Badrinath,  come almost exclusively for their yearly obeisance. Their long arduous mission ends with the temple. 

Far from the hustle and bustle, 8 kilometers from the temple is the gorgeous Vasudhara water falls. The trek of 4 hours is through a wide expanse of valley- flanked with towering snow-draped ridges.  The path on one side gradually slopes away down to the scree strewn gorge, carved from the waters of the melting glaciers.

The water from the Fall cascades down 100 meters  in a fine crystalline spray, which buffeted by the wind, reach you much before you arrive at the Fall. The falling spray of water forms a huge mound of ice at the base- rising like a giant stalagmite.  

On a sunny day the trek is easy and pleasant. Half way to the Fall, you would need to ford fast flowing stream of icy water coming from the upper reaches of the Himalayas.  On our way back, post lunch, the quantity of water flowing down had increased substantially which made our navigation across the stream fraught with danger of a bath in the icy waters! 

In the wide expanse of the valley strong gusts of wind pommel you without warning. Its then that you become aware of your almost total isolation in the wilderness of the mountains and  your vulnerability to the forces of nature. It sets your adrenalin pumping!  The desolation hits you and you tend to feel a wee bit nervous.  Better start early for the Fall, so that you are back at Badrinath town before dusk.

When travelling from New Delhi, break journey at Rishikesh for the night halt.The road, by and large, is good.  The authorities do not allow vehicular movement to Badrinath after 4.30 pm.  The final strip of the road from Joshimath to Badrinath, is narrow, steep and treacherous- definitively not advisable to traverse at night.

There are plenty of  motels and rest houses at Badrinath, but most  are extremely mediocre.  Since it is predominantly a pilgrimage centre, the turn over of people is fast and the owners do not have the means or the inclination to maintain the customary level of standard. The bed sheets look unclean and used. Advisable to carry your own bed-sheets.

Getting accommodation there should not a problem except during festival season. The cell phones do not work. The land line is your best bet.


There is not much variety in the food-but then in all high altitude stations the situation is the similar. Food is strictly vegetarian.

It was s pleasant in the day time in the Month of May. However the the weather can change dramatically- from pleasant balmy clime to  cold wet and icy winds.

The nearby place that you can see, from a trekkers point, are: 

• The Valley of Flowers.
• Hemkund Sahib and 
• Auli

On the way to the Falls.Deep.....valleys and ridges.

A rugged  trail of a glacier 

You come across some of the most majestic peaks .... 

........silent and eternal.

The water from the falls coalesces into ice forming a huge mound.

The flora near the falls. The plant is prickly and stays close to the ground

The winds disperses the falling water into a fine spray which solidifies into ice and rises like a giant stalagmite.

Its a pity that there are no spectators to see this magnificent water fall.

There are no trees and or  birds, just thorny bushes which grows laterally, hugging the ground.

A saint smeared in ash-quite oblivious of the cold.

On the way to Badrinath.

It is a four hour trek to the fall. Its easy and pleasant (if the weather holds).